Electron vulnerable to remote command execution

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

8.1 · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2017-12581: 6.69% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 93.92 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Electron before 1.6.8 allows remote command execution because of a nodeIntegration bypass vulnerability. This also affects all applications that bundle Electron code equivalent to 1.6.8 or earlier. Bypassing the Same Origin Policy (SOP) is a precondition; however, recent Electron versions do not have strict SOP enforcement. Combining an SOP bypass with a privileged URL internally used by Electron, it was possible to execute native Node.js primitives in order to run OS commands on the user's host. Specifically, a chrome-devtools://devtools/bundled/inspector.html window could be used to eval a Node.js childprocess.execFile API call.

Published by the source

17 May 2022, 02:14 UTC

Last modified by the source

8 Nov 2023, 03:58 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 12:26 UTC

1. Revision 2 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8

2. Revision 1 · created · 24 Oct 2026

   Published from osv record GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2017-12581

Advisory: Electron vulnerable to remote command execution
IDs: CVE-2017-12581, GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2017-12581 (revision 2, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 12:26 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: electron 1.6.8. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- npm electron: affected < 1.6.8; fixed in 1.6.8

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `npm ls electron --all`: lists every installed copy and version, including transitive ones. Run in the project root after `npm ci`.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on electron.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8 (OSV record GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8 lists affected ranges: npm electron >=0 <1.6.8 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-7fv9-m79r-j9x8 lists affected ranges: npm electron >=0 <1.6.8)

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